The First Word: California

On this day: Gov. Rick Perry heads to California; Republicans celebrate after passing Voter ID; Appropriations passes out the House budget, which doesn’t look much like Senate proposals; and the governor has to pay out $1500 to the Ethics Commission

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California Bound

No snow storm, blackouts or budget crisis can keep Gov. Rick Perry away from the sunny and golden state of California. Just a day after the House passed its budget version of the budget, which is nothing like the Senate’s (see below) and tackled the controversial Voter ID bill — Perry left the turmoil of the legislative session to travel to California. Perry said he was going to California as part of his bid to bring more high-tech businesses to Texas.

Peggy Fikac reports:

Perry leaves Texas today (Thursday March 24) for meetings Friday with top officials from Facebook and HP in Palo Alto, and eBay in San Jose, said spokesman Mark Miner.

Miner would give no details about the meetings, saying only they are about “economic development issues.”

Perry will speak Saturday to two GOP organizations, the New Majority in Orange County and the Lincoln Club of Northern California in Pebble Beach, Miner said.

Perry, who went to California last month and also has traveled to Washington and Las Vegas this year, makes no apologies to critics who look askance at his travel at a time when lawmakers are wrestling with issues including a massive state budget shortfall.

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Voter ID Strikes Back

After using parliamentary tactics to stall the Voter ID Bill on Monday, Democrats proved unsuccessful in their attempts to send the bill back to committee on Wednesday. After more than 12 hours of debate, with Democrats filing more than 80 amendments to the bill; the controversial legislation finally passed on second reading just after 11 p.m.

“This bill is about providing a photo ID when you show up to vote,” she said.

People have to produce identification to travel and, increasingly, as they conduct their daily lives, which should elevate voting to similar security concerns, Rep. Joe Aliseda, R-Beeville told his colleagues.

But Democrats spoke passionately of past discrimination against minorities and characterized Voter ID as the same.

“Conservatives cannot do the right thing when it comes to race. It’s just too hard,” said Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, recalling historic fights against school segregation and for voter rights.M

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Appropriations Passes Budget Bill

Much earlier, yesterday morning the House Appropriations Committee passed out a House budget that slashes $23 billion (or about 25%) of state spending over the next two years.Peggy Fikac reports:

The bare-bones measure doesn’t appear to have enough support among even Senate Republicans to pass that chamber, where senators are searching for non-tax revenue, said Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

Their assessments frame a fight whose stakes include the size of public school classes, school district jobs, nursing homes’ ability to operate, college students’ financial aid, home health care services for fragile Texans and thousands of state employee jobs.

“It’s a budget that reflects the money we have,” said Pitts, R-Waxahachie. “There’s a lot of members of the House that (believe) this is as far as we can go ….. They feel like they were elected to make cuts, and this accurately reflects what their constituents want.”

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Passing The Buck

The New York Times’ Michael Cooper looks at how states around the country are balancing their budgets by shifting costs to local government entities like school districts as well as city and county governments as they attempt to solve their budget crisis’.

Here in Texas — local governments, especially school districts, have complained that the state is unfairly transferring responsibility for funding from

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Perry Fined by Ethics Commission

The Chronicle’s Joe Holley reports that the Texas Ethics Commission fined Gov. Rick Perry for not properly disclosing his property in College Station.

Gov. Rick Perry was fined $1,500 by the Texas Ethics Commission on Wednesday for failing to report rental property in College Station and for filing incomplete information regarding debts on the property.

According to the commission, the total income Perry failed to disclose on personal financial statements in 2009 and 2010 was between $7,000 and $29,995. Perry also failed to disclose all of the debts and the names of the banks holding notes and leases on the College Station house.